"Where's Bella?"

Edward looked up from his laptop. Rosalie was standing at the end of the couch he was lying on, looking down at him, hands on her hips.

"What?"

"Where is she?"

Edward squinted at her. "Why are you asking me?"

Rosalie awkwardly looked out the window to her right, realizing how odd her behavior was. "I just… I thought you would be hanging out with her this weekend." She looked at him. "Stop asking questions you already know the answer to, you ass."

"If you're going to be concerned about what Bella's doing, maybe you should stop avoiding her," he said, looking back down at his laptop. "But if you must know, she's in La Push with some of her other friends who aren't me."

"Ugh, dog territory."

"She's friends with the dogs."

Rosalie put a hand over her eyes. "She really is a danger magnet."

"Can't disagree with that." He closed his laptop and sat up. "Listen, Rosalie, you need to at least try to be friends with her. I'm not going to tell you how to act on your own feelings. That's your business. Just be nice to her. Be friendly. She gets so torn up when you ignore her."

Edward gathered his things and walked upstairs to his room. Rosalie crossed her arms and sighed. Up from the first floor came Carlisle, who placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's talk."

She followed him to his office, where he took a seat behind his desk. Rosalie pulled up a chair across from him, glancing at the gaudy Volturi painting on the wall behind her.

"Why do you still have that?" she asked, pointing at it over her shoulder with her thumb.

"It was a gift. You don't throw away gifts. Besides, I'm in it."

Sure enough, Carlisle's figure was painted in off to the side of the three brothers.

"That doesn't me you have to keep it on display like this."

Carlisle scratched his chin. "I don't know, I've always kind of liked it. Regardless, this isn't a conversation about my taste in décor, Rose. We need to talk about Bella."

"I've talked about Bella enough."

"Edward and I had a very civil conversation yesterday night about you two. I admit that he's acted very rash about all this, but he does have a point. He seems very sure that she is your mate. Are you sure?"

Rosalie wrung her hands in her lap. "I feel… very strongly about her."

"You feel drawn to her."

"Yes. I want to be around her. The first time I saw her, it was like… the world around us stopped when we made eye contact. Edward had just nudged me and told me he couldn't read her mind, and I turned around to look. Our eyes met and…" Rosalie put a hand over her mouth, shaking her head slightly. "It was something I've never felt before."

"That sounds about right," said Carlisle, shifting slightly in his seat so he was sitting up straighter. "Mating is a very strange thing for us. It's a sort of sixth sense we have, but it's not the most clear or concise thing in the world. You see someone, and you experience a sort of… shift. After a while, you realize your attraction, and you feel drawn to that person. I know how it feels."

"But you left Esme behind the first time you met," she said. "So it can't be that strong."

"I was intent on leaving her alone and letting her live her life. We met in one moment, and that moment passed quickly. I did have the same experience, but I had no business sweeping her off her feet and running away with her back then."

"You ignored it. You left."

"And I paid the price," he said. "It was not a joyful time in my life. I felt the pull, but I held fast and stayed away. In the end, fate brought us together again. I agree with Edward that ignoring the mate bond has dangerous consequences, and you can't ignore it forever. If you try to, it'll just draw you back together somehow."

"I don't want her to end up like us, Carlisle!" Rosalie cried out, slamming her hands down on the armrests of her chair. "This is not a life I would wish on anyone!"

Carlisle closed his eyes. "I know. I know, Rose. I often think about the choice I made when I found you. After going through such a traumatic experience, I realize that it would have probably been best to let you pass on. Alas, I didn't know the context at the time, and I made a quick decision. You were young, and I wanted you to have a chance to live your life."

"And what good has that brought me? I'm stuck like this, a monster, forever."

"You are not a monster," he said. "And neither is Edward, as much as he likes to say that. Don't let his mindset infect you. You've done good with this life. You've never tasted human blood. You saved Emmett. You found him soaked in blood, dying, and instead of letting yourself falter, you picked him up and carried him for miles through the woods to get him to me. There is good in you."

Rosalie looked at her hands. "I still don't want this for her."

"Alice has already had visions of her as one of us."

"Alice's visions can change." Rose looked up. "Is there a way to break it?"

"The bond?" Carlisle looked around the room at his shelves of books and artifacts. "No, not easily. Your only option would be to pay a visit to Chelsea. That would be extremely dangerous, and probably wouldn't work out in the way you would want it to."

Rosalie slumped over in her chair, covering her face with one hand. Carlisle looked at a photo frame on his desk. It was Esme's idea for them to take a family photo when they moved back to Forks. Carlisle stood in the center with his arm around his wife's waist. Emmett stood to the left of Esme, a hand on her shoulder. Jasper was to his left, holding a smiling Alice's hand. Edward was on Carlisle's right, standing apart from the rest of his siblings, smiling warmly at the camera, a rare look for him in those days. Rosalie was on his right, her smile less genuine and more irritated. They were a ragtag bunch, but they had made a family out of themselves over the years. They took care of each other.

"As much as you don't want to admit it, the family has become very attached to Bella," he said, still staring at the photograph. "Edward particularly, and she's earned a place here, with us. Whether she wants to be turned or not is entirely up to her, not you or anyone else. Please, Rosalie, I beg of you to stop avoiding her. She is obviously interested in you."

Rosalie nodded. "Okay. Okay."

Carlisle's posture relaxed. "Good. I'm glad we talked about this."

As Rosalie got up to leave his office, they were both startled by a bloodcurdling screech from down the hall. Both of them darted to the source of the noise: Edward's room.

"I can't see anything!" screeched Alice. "Not fucking shit!"

Alice was standing in the center of his room, pacing back and forth while a shaken Edward sat on the futon.

"I, uh, I was trying to get her to check Bella's future," he said. "But it's coming up blank."

"She's not dead so don't panic, I just… fucking…! I saw her pulling into someone's driveway this morning and running around some woman's house and then going into the woods and then it just fucking cuts out like I lost signal! This shouldn't happen!"

"The wolves," Carlisle said calmly. "I don't think you can see the wolves."

"God, you're right," she said, holding both hands to her face. "Oh god, that's really fucking annoying."

"Is Bella okay?" Rosalie asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I'll text her," said Edward, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He tapped out a quick message asking her if she was okay and explaining why he was concerned. A few minutes passed, and he got a reply. "She's fine. She's just hanging out with Jacob Black."

Rosalie felt relieved. Alice was not as happy.

"I hate him," she growled. "I hate him so much and I've never met him. I hope I never do."

Edward chuckled and went back to typing away on his laptop. Alice groaned and walked out of the room, pushing past Rosalie and Carlisle to go back to her studio. Carlisle shrugged and walked back down the hall to his office. Edward shot Rose a "What can you do?" look. She grinned and walked back downstairs to see if there was anything interesting on TV.

-X-

Leah returned to PC on Monday to Bella's delight.

"Long time no see," Bella greeted her in the parking lot.

"You came to school with the Cullens," said Leah, glancing at Edward, leaning against the side of his Volvo.

"Yeah, Edward's been driving me. The human gang is really grating my nerves."

"You're keeping dangerous company, Bella," she warned.

Bella groaned. "Oh my god, don't pull this shit on me, please. Listen, today you're gonna have lunch with me and the Cullens and you're gonna enjoy it. You're gonna have a fun time."

Leah leaned to the side, looking around Bella's head at Alice, who was glaring daggers at the wolf girl. "I don't know about that. I get the feeling they don't really like me."

"Lunch. Me. You. Cullen table. It's set." Bella poked Leah's nose and turned, walking off to go to communications with Edward and Alice.

"Bella, I have to say that I don't appreciate you canceling out a good hour of my future vision by inviting your wolf pal to lunch with us," said Alice, who was still very unhappy that the pack was starting to black out her visions.

"You're gonna have to get over it, Ali," Bella replied. "I've known Leah longer than I've known you."

"Whatever. This is such fucking bullshit."

They had to give one-minute speeches in communications. Bella gave a short analytical talk about Dracula, much to Edward and Alice's amusement. In biology, they had a lecture, and Edward and Bella spent the class passing a paper back and forth, creating an elaborate collaborative doodle of a stereotypical vampire fighting a wolfman featuring several other classic monsters as witnesses, including but not limited to Godzilla, Frankenstein, and several zombies. After class, Bella found Leah trying to dodge her by hiding in the bathroom and dragged her to lunch with the Cullens.

It started out quite tense, to say the least. Bella and Leah sat between Edward and Alice, the latter of which gave Leah a dirty look when she sat down.

"Bella, this is not a good idea," mumbled Leah.

"Shh. Be nice," she said, putting a hand on Leah's shoulder. "That goes for the rest of you too."

No one said anything. Leah took a bite of her sandwich. A breeze rolled through, disrupting the pages of the book Jasper was trying to read.

"Okay guys, c'mon," said Bella. "I'm trying to facilitate inter-species relations here. Work with me. Let's talk."

"About what?" Rosalie asked, resting her chin on her hand.

"About…" Bella took a moment to think. "About the ghoul problem! Tell 'em about that, Leah."

Jasper perked up and closed his book, suddenly interested in the topic of conversation. "Ghoul problem?" he echoed.

"There's been an unusually large number of ghouls in the area surrounding La Push, and the infestation no doubt goes beyond the areas we patrol into your territory," Leah explained with no enthusiasm.

"I have seen an unusual amount prowling around in the woods recently," said Jasper. "Emmett and I killed three of them while we were out hunting last week, and I've seen a couple more since."

"We've killed dozens," said Leah.

"That's not good, like, really not good," said Edward, furrowing his brow as he got even more information from Leah's thoughts.

"You don't have to tell me that. Where the hell are they coming from?"

The Cullens looked at each other and shrugged. "Hell if we know," said Emmett.

"Ghouls reproduce by infecting humans," said Edward, scratching his chin. "For them to be appearing in such large numbers is odd, because more often than not, they just kill humans and eat them instead of leaving them to the infection. This is not something they would do naturally."

"You're suggesting someone is behind this," said Jasper.

Edward nodded, a solemn expression on his face. "Ghouls didn't naturally occur to begin with. They were the result of vampire experimentation several hundred years ago. While experimenting with vampire venom, they began combining it with human pathogens and infecting humans with those mixtures. I don't know what they were trying to accomplish, but they ended up releasing a plague of monsters into the world. Luckily, there's always been a very small population of them. They're not smart, and they're very easily kill. What you're describing is unusual behavior, so I would say that someone is purposefully spreading their disease to humans."

"A vampire?" Leah asked.

"Most likely. It would be dangerous work for a human."

"I ran into one in the woods on Saturday. Jake killed it, so I was okay, but it's not the first time that I've seen one," said Bella.

"Really?" asked Edward.

"Yeah, I saw one in the woods here when I was like, ten. I had strayed off the path behind my house while I was out with Charlie. I heard something coming and hid in a hole under some big rocks. It was really close to finding me when someone else came along and attacked it."

"When you were ten?" Emmett asked. "You're eighteen right now, right?"

"I turn nineteen this year."

Emmett took a moment to do the math on his fingers. "Nine years ago… Woah, Bella, that was me!"

Bella slammed her hands down on the table, a wide smile on her face. "Holy shit, really?"

"Yeah!" Emmett said excitedly. "I was back in town scoping out the area and checking on the house because we were thinking about moving back. I went hunting in the woods, and I caught the scent of a ghoul while I was there, so I started tracking it. It was really close to a heavily populated area of town, so I figured I better kill it before it hurt someone. I knew I smelled a human when I attacked it, but I was too focused on killing the little fucker to see who was around."

"Oh my god, Emmett, we were bros before we even knew we were bros," said Bella, reaching across the table to fist bump him.

"That's so wild, dude."

Edward cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt your bonding, but to return to the threat at hand… We'll talk to Carlisle, but we should definitely patrol the area around our place and the town. Ghouls are extremely dangerous, and we don't want this to get out of hand. Leah, would you let Sam know that we'd be willing to work with him?"

"Yeah, I can. That would actually be… nice," Leah said hesitantly. "Thanks."

The rest of lunch wasn't as uneasy. There was still lingering tension between Leah and the Cullens, but Bella worked hard to dispel as much of it as possible with casual conversation. Afterwards, Rosalie walked with her to English. They didn't really talk to each other, but Rosalie wasn't actively trying to run away from Bella, so she considered it a moment of friendship.

"Oh sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams that bring to my remembrance from what state I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere…"

Bella could listen to Rosalie read all day. She was thankful that the professor was so apt to call on Rose, because it helped her pay attention. Sadly, she finished the selection and the lecture began again.

"And in this passage, Satan is expressing his hatred of the sun, as it reminds him of who he once was, and he begins to discuss how he betrayed God…" spoke Professor Shaffer, launching into a long-winded discussion of the text.

Bella scratched down some notes, though she felt her understanding of the text was already quite solid. She glanced at Rosalie who was also taking notes with an unreadable expression her face. It was one of what seemed like concentration, but there was some kind of pain hidden in her eyes. Bella realized she was staring and looked back down at her desk.

At the end of class, Rosalie did not get up and dart off on her own. Instead, she waited for Bella.

"We're headed to the same place. Might as well walk together," she said.

Bella nodded dumbly. I guess Edward talked to her after that weekend. This is wild. She followed Rosalie out of the room, saying a quick goodbye to Angela, who gave her a smile and thumbs up. Bella blushed.

They walked in silence. For the first time since Bella had met her, Rosalie seemed nervous. She was holding her book to her chest, awkwardly tapping her thumb against the cover. She finally lowered her arms and exhaled loudly.

"Bella, I want to apologize for how rudely I've behaved. I know that I already tried to start over again with you, but I would like for you to give me one more chance. This time… This time I promise I'll do better."

Bella was baffled. "Well, uh, I really wasn't that upset with how you were acting. I mean, from what I understand, I've basically put all of us in danger, so it only makes sense that you would be super pissed at me. I was honestly shocked that everyone else was so nice when I came over the other weekend."

"You're not wrong." The corner of Rosalie's mouth turned up slightly. "I am still really mad about that, but that's Edward's fault, not yours."

"Oh, we agreed to split the blame equally."

"Of course you did," she said, breaking into a full smile.

Bella's heart fluttered. She had made Rosalie Hale smile, and what a beautiful smile it was. She felt light on her feet.

"Well, Rosalie, I am a firm believer in second chances, and even third chances," said Bella. "Lord knows I've had to give myself several, so I can't say no to you."

"Thank you." Rosalie began tapping her thumb against the book cover again. "Would you…" She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, frustrated with herself. "Would you like to come over tomorrow afternoon and study for the quiz on Wednesday?"

"S-sure! That sounds great."

"Alright. Great." Rosalie caught herself before she could say "It's a date" out loud.

"Cool. Well, I'm gonna get in Edward's car now, and you're going to get in yours," said Bella, walking over to where Edward was sitting in the open trunk of the Volvo, playing his guitar. "Peace out!"

"See you!" Rosalie waved as she got into the driver's seat of her BMW.

Bella sat down with Edward, who was plucking out a tune. Once Alice and Jasper, had loaded up into the backseat of her car, Rosalie pulled out and drove away, looking at Bella in her rear-view mirror as she took the guitar from Edward and started strumming out her own song.

-X-

Bella rode in Rosalie's car for the first time on Tuesday afternoon. Rosalie had intended for it to just be the two of them on the way home, but Bella had invited Emmett to ride with them. Truth be told, Bella was too anxious to ride for an hour in a car with just Rosalie, who she considered to be the most beautiful woman on the planet. She hoped that Emmett's outstanding sense of humor would diffuse the situation.

It sort of made it worse, though.

"So, Bella, interested in anyone?" he asked as he leaned forward, bracing himself by resting his elbow on Bella's seat.

"And what do you mean by that?" she asked, laughing nervously.

"Y'know, like girls. Anyone got your eye?"

Bella so desperately wished that Rosalie would slam on the brakes and launch her body through the windshield, sending her flying at high speeds into the nearest pine tree to put her out of her misery.

"Well, y'know, it's whatever."

"Bella, that was not an answer," he said.

Bella glanced over at Rosalie, who was staring ahead at the road. She had on sunglasses so Bella couldn't quite read her expression, but, as usual, it seemed entirely neutral. Interrupt him, please, she prayed.

"Emmett, can we not?" said Bella.

"Ooh, Bella's got a crush," he said in sing-song manner.

"Emmett," she hissed. "Let's not."

"You heard her," said Rosalie, breaking her silence.

Emmett sat back and huffed, crossing his arms. "Y'all are no fun."

Rosalie turned around to look at him, pushing her sunglasses down and delivering a look that would've killed a human man. He mimed zipping his lips shut and looked out the window at the passing trees.

"So, Bella, how are you feeling about that quiz?" Rosalie asked.

"Well, this marks the third time I've read Paradise Lost, so I'd say I'm feeling pretty stellar about it."

"Third time?" Rosalie gaped at her. "You've read Paradise Lost three times."

"Yea, the first time I read it for fun, and the second for a class in high school."

"Bella, no one reads Paradise Lost for fun," said Rosalie. "Are you sure you're a human? I think you might be a robot."

"A robot obsessed with literature?" Bella asked, raising a brow.

"Yes, exactly that."

"Well, it's a possibility. Technology these days." Bella paused, putting on a blank expression. "Error. Error. 404 error, Bella not found. Reloading personality… forty percent… sixty percent… ninety percent… one hundred percent. Resuming." She shook her head and blinked a few times. "Woah guys, what just happened? I totally blacked out for a second."

Emmett was doubled over in the backseat, giggling uncontrollably. More importantly, Bella had managed to make Rosalie chuckle. She smirked, proud of her accomplishment.

Edward had beat them home with his crazy driving (Rosalie drove just as fast as he did, but she actually listened when Bella begged her to slow it down) and was lounging in the living room listening very loud to music. Rosalie went upstairs to drop her things off in her room.

"Who is this?" Bella asked, walking up behind the couch.

"This is 'Cash Machine' by D.R.A.M," he said, cranking up the volume a little more.

"I like it."

"I'll put it on the playlist I'm making for you," he said, sitting up and grabbing his laptop.

"You're making me a playlist?" she asked.

"Yeah, you asked- Oh fuck, you were blackout. You asked me to make you a playlist while you were drunk the other weekend."

"Can you get blackout?" she asked as she leaned even further over the couch to see what was on his laptop screen.

"Ah ah, no peeking," he said, reaching up and pushing her face back. "And yes, I can, but it takes a lot of alcohol. Like, more than it's possible for a human being to drink."

"Vampires don't get alcohol poisoning?"

"Of course not."

Rosalie reappeared, coming down the staircase. She had changed outfits, now wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Even in simple clothing, she looked heavenly.

"Aw, dude, you changed clothes! You can't even get uncomfortable!" Bella whined.

"Oh, well, I thought that dressing more casually would make you more comfortable instead of lounging around the house in like… designer clothing."

This was true. Rosalie had been wearing an outfit that probably cost as much as her car and looked more fashionable than functional. Not only would it have been distracting, but it would've been like having a study session with a supermodel. Bella appreciated that she had taken that into consideration.

"Point made, but now I'm stuck in these jeans feeling overdressed," said Bella, motioning to her pants.

This was an overstatement; Bella was never overdressed for anything. She considered putting on a pair of jeans to be "dressing up", even when her jeans were tattered pieces of garbage; her standards were extremely low. Nevertheless, Edward snapped his fingers and disappeared, reappearing seconds later with a pair of basketball shorts in hand.

"For the lady," he said. "They should fit. I'm a skinny guy."

"Because you were dying of influenza," said Emmett as he walked upstairs.

"You were?" Bella asked, taking the shorts.

"That's a story for another time," he said. "I think Rose wants you to hurry up and change so you can get to work, you needy bitch."

"Oh, shut up."

Bella went upstairs to the bathroom, slipping out of her jeans into the shorts. They were a bit big around the waist, but it was nothing a little tightening of the drawstring couldn't help. She went back downstairs, putting her jeans in her backpack.

"We can go down to the library," said Rosalie, heading to the stairs.

"Oh, cool! I didn't really get to look around downstairs last time."

Bella got a chance to check out the den, a much darker, closed in living space, though it still had its fair share of windows. There was a family office space with a couple desktop computers. Finally, the library, their destination, was the biggest room with a set of double doors opening up to the back porch.

"This house is so… picturesque. It's perfect for you guys."

"Esme puts a lot of care into what she makes," said Rosalie, sitting down in an armchair. "Now, let's find out exactly how much you know about Paradise Lost, because I've definitely read it more times than you have. Not that I'm proud of that."

Studying went smoothly. The quiz would be fairly simple; a few short essay questions and identifications. They didn't know what the essay questions would be, but the professor hinted that they would draw from the lectures, so they went over their notes together.

"Shit, you took way better notes than me," said Bella. "I guess I do zone out a lot."

"Well, you're lucky I pay attention. I can copy these for you."

"Really? I mean, I can do it myself."

Rosalie shook her head. "Bella, it would take me about a minute tops to copy all this. It would take you at least an hour."

"Oh, right. Vampire speed." Bella handed over her notebook and watched as Rosalie's hand flew across the page, writing so fast she was sure the paper would catch fire from the friction. "Do you have any crazy mind powers like Edward?"

Rosalie shook her head. "No, that's just him. I'm sure he told you about Alice and Jasper."

"Yeah, future vision and like, super empathy, I guess?"

"Mhmm." She finished copying and handed back the notebook. "When a human being is turned into a vampire, their most prominent trait is accentuated. Sometimes, that turns into a special talent, like Edward being able to read minds. Sometimes humans have proto-powers, so that talent is further developed. Those without gifts just have accentuated traits. For example, Emmett was a really strong human, so he's a really strong vampire. Carlisle was a very compassionate man, so his compassion was brought out further in his new life."

"So what's yours?" Bella asked, now more interested in learning new vampire knowledge than rehashing Paradise Lost.

Rosalie looked a little embarrassed. "In my human life, I was very beautiful, so as a vampire, I have… enhanced beauty," she said, refusing to make eye contact with Bella. "It's sort of silly, but I've been told by several other vampires that it's true, that they've never seen anyone else as beautiful as me."

"They're right," said Bella, staring intently at Rosalie's face. "You're very beautiful. Perfect, even."

Rosalie stared back at her, and they sat like that for a good minute before Bella realized what she had said, turned a deep shade of red, and began flipping through her notes.

"Okay, we can go back to talking about the book now," she mumbled, eyes glued to the paper.

Fuck, her handwriting is perfect too!

Somehow, they managed to get back to the subject of English and continued to study for another hour before Bella's stomach began to growl loudly.

"Oh shit! We didn't give you lunch!" Rosalie said, jumping up from her seat. "God, I'm an idiot."

"It's fine, I know you guys don't eat so I had a granola bar before we left school."

"That's not a meal, Bella. I'm going to fix you something."

Bella followed her upstairs, where Edward still blasting music and sitting on his laptop. Rose made a beeline for the kitchen.

"Whatcha doing?" Bella asked, leaning over the back of the couch, dangling herself over his stomach.

"Working on my speech for communications. How are the shorts?"

"A bit loose, but they fit otherwise. I tied them tight."

"Awesome."

"What's the speech about?" Bella pushed herself over the back of the couch and tumbled over Edward, landing on the ottoman that he had pulled up next to the couch to lay out his things on.

"God, you're a nuisance," he said, pushing his things out of her way. "I'm going to analyze this album I really like."

"Which is what album?"

"Jackrabbit by San Fermin."

"Never heard it."

"I'll put it on the playlist."

"So tell me about it."

"You have to wait for the speech," he said, typing away.

"Geeze, alright. Well, I'm hype for it." Bella looked over at the kitchen. "What's cooking?"

"Chicken burritos," said Rosalie, stirring up a pot of refried beans.

Bella gasped. "You're making me burritos?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No, it's the exact opposite of a problem! We can even make Eddie eat one."

"No. Never again," he said quickly.

Bella chuckled and scooted up close to him, resting her chin on his shoulder to look at his screen. "Wow, I didn't know tumblr was good for research."

He groaned. "Bella, I don't sleep, I have unlimited time to work on it."

"You should follow me," she said, eyeing his url and pulling out her phone. "I'm definitely gonna follow you."

"Aren't you supposed to be studying?"

"Food break."

"I really whipped Rosalie into shape," he said. "She's cooking now. Wild."

Rosalie growled, and Edward chuckled.

Once Rose had finished preparing all the separate ingredients, she put them together, making two burritos.

"It's still nice out, isn't it? I wanna eat on the balcony," said Bella, getting up from the ottoman, freeing Edward from her pestering.

"We can do that," said Rosalie, carrying the plate outside.

Bella chowed down on the burritos, still impressed that someone with no sense of taste could cook something so delicious. "This is really good," she said through a mouthful of food.

"Thanks." Rosalie looked out over the treetops, smiling.

As Bella moved on to burrito number two, she asked "So why the sudden attitude change? I guessed that Edward must've talked to you or something."

Rosalie scowled. "You could say that. He's a bit full of himself. I just…" A loud exhale. "You were right when you said you put all of us in danger. I was concerned about my family, but… I was concerned about you too. Our world is dangerous, Bella. I only wanted to protect you."

Bella stopped chewing and swallowed, her carefree demeanor suddenly disappearing. "Well, I don't need protecting," she said curtly.

"Bella, you don't understand," said Rosalie.

"No, no, I totally understand. People have been trying to 'protect' me all my life, Rose, and they never really asked me what I thought about." She sat down the uneaten half of the second burrito and turned to face the blonde. "I got of sick of it, and that's why I'm here."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No one ever means anything!" Bella shouted. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions, you know? If I had a dollar for every time someone told me something was for my own good, I'd be fucking rich. As rich as you guys. Jesus Christ." She ran her hands through her hair. "I thought I was done with this!"

Rosalie was stunned by the sudden shift in her attitude. She didn't know what to say. Bella kept going.

"My mother, my own fucking mother, did everything she could to 'protect' me for my entire life, and look at how that turned out! She kept me away from my dad as much as she could. I could hardly make friends. She never let me leave the house. She was so possessive, yet she didn't even bother to take care of me! She wanted me to be at home so I was safe, but then she treated me like I was a fucking piece of furniture whenever I was around. So then, she gets married, right? Marries this asshole named Phil. I could tell he was an asshole the minute they started dating. Talks about my dad all the time, who he has never even met, talks shit about him like he fucking knows who he is. Treats me like a dog." Bella balled her hands up into fists, pulling at her hair. "So I meet this girl in school. I was like, fifteen, sixteen… We start dating. I manage to sneak out of the house at night to go see her. Phil, motherfucking shithead Phil, reads my text messages. He sees all her texts to me and you know what he does? You know?"

Bella had suddenly looked up at Rosalie, wide-eyed and frenzied. Rosalie could only shake her head, still not knowing what to say.

"He beats the shit out of me. Gives me a black eye. Calls me all kind of shit I could never repeat. Renee just ignores it. She doesn't care. She never cared. I don't think she even wanted me. I was just… there, taking up space in her life. So he doesn't stop, he doesn't fucking stop. Every night he comes home and does this." Bella leaned back in her chair, looking up at the sky. "I left for a while. I packed a bunch of clothes in my backpack, went to school, and just didn't go home. No one called. No one came looking for me. The only people I could keep as friends were burnouts. I crashed with my ex in her shitty basement. That was when shit really started to go south. I started drinking like there was no tomorrow because I didn't think there would be one." She put a hand over her eyes and wiped at her face. "And even when I went home, I didn't stop. Phil didn't stop either. I was seventeen when I tried to kill myself."

"Bella…"

"I went this far, let me finish," she said, raising a hand, taking several deep breaths to calm herself down before she continued. She was reliving it all with every word. "I slit my wrists in the bathtub, except I was shitfaced so I did an awful job. Renee came home from work, found me, and took me to the hospital. Got me fixed up, except I also had alcohol poisoning, so that was a real fun time." Bella stopped talking for a solid minute, staring straight ahead at nothing. "I decided that it wasn't my time to die. I sobered up for the most part and focused hard on my studies. My ex broke up with me, but I graduated. My mom wanted to send me off to some kind of rehab facility, but I told her I wanted to live with dad instead. I hadn't seen him in two years because of her. And now I'm here."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Rosalie said quietly.

"You didn't, but you can't go around making choices for other people," said Bella. "You're not protecting someone if they didn't ask for help. You're just controlling them."

"I'm really sorry, Bella."

Bella pushed the plate of uneaten food across the table towards Rosalie and got up from the chair, waking back inside. Rosalie sat on the balcony, frozen in place.

"Edward," Bella called as she walked back inside. "I need a drink."

Edward didn't answer right away. He sat still, contemplating. Would he do the right thing, or would he do what he wanted to? He looked at Bella, who was standing over the couch, her expression dark. She looked older than she was. He could see the years of pain in her eyes. He could see himself.

"Well, I don't know how fond you are of gin, but I just got a handle of Tanqueray."

Bella smiled, but the look in her eyes didn't change. She followed Edward up to his room. Rosalie remained frozen on the balcony, looking out over the treetops with vacant eyes.

-X-

"Rosalie can be a real bitch," said Edward. "Trust me, I know that more than anyone."

"You two don't get along?"

"It's a really long story, but to keep it short, yes." He looked down and quietly said, "Some of it is my fault, but…"

Bella was six drinks in. Edward had had nine.

"I get where she's coming from, but it's fucking stupid," Bella muttered into her glass. "It's shitty."

"It is," he agreed. "Is that empty?"

Bella looked into the glass. "Yeah."

"What do you want?"

"Vodka cranberry."

"Clean and simple," he said, pushing himself up onto his knees and shuffling over to his liquor shelf to fix the drink.

"I get it, though," she said.

"Get what?"

"Rosalie. I get it." She put a hand over her eyes. "I get it. I'm sure this kind of shit is unprecedented. Y'know, humans being around vampires and all that."

"Well, in this kind of situation, yes," he said. "The Volturi—you remember I told you about them?"

Bella nodded. "Vampire government."

"Yeah. So they have a couple big important rules—laws?—that we have to follow. One of those is that we can't reveal ourselves to humans. Like most of their rules, breaking it is punishable by death. I really doubt Aro would kill us because he likes Carlisle too much, but it's still a very dangerous thing to do."

"Fuck, I really fucked you guys over."

"Really, don't worry about it."

"So if they find out, we all die? Or whatever?"

He crawled back over to Bella and handed her the drink he had fixed. "Well, there's another option but… I don't wanna talk about that."

"Fair. Well, now that I know that, I feel really bad. She was just trying to keep us all alive," she said.

"She was going about it in a really bad way, though."

"That's true, but I still feel bad. I really went off on her."

"She deserved it."

"No, no, I feel bad. I should apologize."

"Dude, do whatever floats your boat. I won't stop you."

Bella was halfway done with her drink when Rosalie appeared in Edward's doorway. "Bella needs to go home," she said. " It's ten o'clock."

"I can take her," said Edward. He tried to stand up but almost immediately fell down on his face.

"No, Edward. You're drunk. You can't drive."

"Oh, right," he mumbled into the floor.

"Come on, Bella," said Rosalie. "Do you need help getting up?"

"No, I can do it myself." Bella got on her feet and stumbled forward right into Rosalie's arms. "You smell good."

"Thanks. Let's go."

Rosalie slipped an arm around Bella's torso and supported her as they headed downstairs to the garage. Rosalie sat her in the passenger's seat, told her not to touch anything, and went back inside to get Bella's bag. When she returned, Bella was resting her forehead on the glove box.

"Sit up. If you throw up in my car, I will kill you."

"I'm sorry, Rosalie, I'm really sorry," Bella said as Rosalie pushed her back into an upright position. "I was really mean. You were just trying to help."

"It's fine, Bella. I understand where you were coming from."

"No, but I was really mean."

"It's okay."

Rosalie started the car and began driving back to the Swan household.

"Oh god, Rose, my dad doesn't know I'm like this," she said. "He doesn't know I drink like this."

"We can deal with that when we get there. You're coherent and I can just tell him that you got sick because I cooked you bad food."

"But it was so good! I'm sorry I didn't finish it." Bella sounded like she was going to start crying.

"Please calm down. Once we get to your house, let me do the talking."

"Okay, boss, whatever you say."

Rosalie couldn't help but smile a little. Bella was a handful, and it was stressful and enjoyable at the same time.

Luckily for them, Charlie wasn't there when they got to her house. Rosalie fished Bella's keys out of her bag and unlocked the front door. She carried her upstairs and laid her down in bed, putting her stuff in the chair in the corner.

"Are you good? Need a trashcan?" she asked.

"That was not enough to make me throw up," said Bella. "Nowhere near enough."

"Okay, okay. I'm gonna go home now."

"Alright."

Rosalie started to leave when Bella called out to her.

"Rose."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"You said that already, like twenty times."

"I know, but I'm really sorry. You're trying to be nice to me and then I went off and turned into the mean one."

Rosalie smiled at her. "It's fine, Bella. I'm not going to hold it against you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Bella held up her hand, extending her pinky. "You gotta pinky promise me."

"This is childish."

"You gotta do it or it's not real."

Rosalie sighed. "Fine." She extended her pinky and looped it around Bella's. "I promise."

Bella grinned. "Okay, you can go now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Don't forget about the quiz."

"I think I'm good. 'Greedily she engorged without restraint and knew not eating death'," said Bella.

Rosalie's smile faltered a bit, but Bella couldn't see it in the darkness.

"Goodnight, Bella."

"G'night."